Internet access has become practically ubiquitous in most of the world through a variety of access points. From dial-up access via Public Switched Telephone network (PSTN) lines to broadband access via landed cable, wireless system or satellite connection, more people than ever have the ability to use the internet and related computer networks. The uses are many, from communications and correspondence to research and information access.
Among these uses is the broad category of information or file sharing, which can involve information in a variety of forms. Data, articles, or similar information can be made available to small groups or the entire world from a local machine or centralized host, by way of IP access. That is, by entering the appropriate IP address, website name or host name, a user at a terminal can access via the internet the files stored in or accessible to the host.
Peer-to-peer (P2P) networks or connections generally involve interconnectedness of individual computers with each other, rather than having individual computers linked only to a central host or server (a “server-based” network or “client-server” setup). In this way, each computer functions as both a host or server and as a client. There is no central server or router to handle all transmissions to and from each “peer” computer. Some P2P networks may be considered “hybrid,” in that they have some characteristic(s) of a client-server system, such as a central server that keeps information relating to some or all of the peer computers. Many P2P networks may also include non-peer elements such as DNS (Domain Name System). Advantages of P2P systems include distribution of resources among a number of more or less equivalent structures, rather than in one central server. Failure of one “peer” is much less serious than failure of a central server. Addition of new “peers” in a P2P system results in increased capacity, whereas addition of clients to a server in a client-server system may overload the server.
File sharing via P2P is quite popular among consumers to upload and download many types of data, including video, music and other content. Many content providers are encouraging such file sharing for distribution of their content as a way to shift costs, particularly the costs of providing bandwidth, to internet service providers (ISPs). For example, software providers have discovered the usefulness of networks for distribution of software, rather than using packaged physical media, such as compact discs. However, there are few if any options to regulate and quantify for billing purposes the use of P2P file sharing.
In the standard protocol, P2P network users open multiple IP sessions to upload and/or download data or other files from the network. While most individuals may use several open IP sessions when browsing (e.g. separate open windows for news and weather, plus background sessions for downloaded advertising), other content uploaders or downloaders may open dozens of IP sessions for transferring information. Applications such as BitTorrent™ and eMule use many open IP sessions, some or all in the background, in transferring information. Each of these sessions is of relatively low bandwidth, but the combination of these sessions results in high bandwidth usage. While ISPs can limit or restrict the overall bandwidth available to a customer via a bandwidth cap, such a limitation applies to all the usage on that customer's connection. Thus, limiting bandwidth to a customer in order to limit P2P file sharing may cause disruptions or increased latency in high-bandwidth applications like video streaming. Further, ISPs or others can control or regulate traffic by its content or type via deep packed inspection (DPI), but doing so raises privacy issues with the potential for liability.
Thus, there remains a need for a solution to the overuse of bandwidth in P2P file sharing while not impacting other high-bandwidth usage, locking down a customer's usable bandwidth, or creating privacy concerns, and for quantifying usage in that way.